Oral history interview with Edward B. Segel

Collection

Identifier: SR 11121

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This oral history interview with Edward B. Segel was conducted by Lisa Brandt Heckman on May 22, 2007, for the Gay and Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest. The interview was conducted as part of a senior capstone class on LGBTQ history at Portland State University, with instructor Christa Orth.

In this interview, Segel shares his experience of accepting his sexuality as a gay man in the 1970s while on leave in London, England, and talks about his involvement in the St. Catherine’s Society, a gay men’s organization. He then speaks at length about his involvement in various LGBT organizations in Portland, after he accepted a professorship at Reed College in 1973, particularly the Portland Town Council and the Right to Privacy PAC. He speaks about several of the people also involved in those organizations, about the organizations' activism, and about some of the conflicts within those organizations. He also talks about his involvement with the Portland Gay Men’s Chorus. He talks about the acceptance of the gay community in Portland, and how it has increased since the 1970s. He shares his opinion on gay marriage rights. He closes the interview by sharing his thoughts about religion.

Dates

2007 May 22

Creator

Segel, Edward Barton (Interviewee, Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright for this interview is held by the Oregon Historical Society. Use is allowed according to the following statement: Creative Commons - BY-NC-SA, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

Biographical note

Edward Barton Segel was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1938. He earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Harvard University, attended Oxford University, and earned a master’s degree and Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley. From 1965 to 1973, he was a history professor at U.C. Berkeley, and then from 1973 to 2011, he was a professor of history and humanities at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. He died in 2021.

Extent

571 Megabytes (1 audio file (WAV, 56 min., 39 sec.) + transcript (22 pages))

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Oral history interview with Edward B. Segel conducted by Lisa Brandt Heckman on May 22, 2007, for the Gay and Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest. Segel discusses the history of LGBT organizations in Portland, including Basic Rights Oregon (BRO), Love Makes A Family, Right to Pride, and Portland Town Council, as well as the individuals involved.